Illumina to Buy Back Cancer Diagnostic Firm for $8 Billion

Illumina plans to pay $8 billion to buy back Grail, a company developing an innovative blood test for early detection of multiple cancers.

Illumina founded Grail in 2016 and spun it off into a separate firm that attracted prominent investors, including Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.

Grail has made “exceptional progress” in developing the technology and clinical data required to launch the multicancer screening test, said Illumina President and CEO Francis deSouza. An early version of the Galleri test was able to detect more than 50 cancer types.

Illumina said it expects to close the deal in the second half of 2021.